Hasta La Ideas

Two interesting stories surrounding the American Institute of Architects to share with you this morning. First up, following the news we told you about back in early June of this year that the AIA had gotten the okay to update their Washington DC headquarters and make the whole thing far more earth friendly, the current owners of the historic building, the American Architectural Foundation, has decided to hand the property over to the AIA. Part of the transfer of ownership involves the AIA making sure the AAF is taken care of financially for the next 5+ years, but it sounds like a pretty great deal, particularly after the AIA has decided recently to put all that additional work in the building. Second up, the LA Times reports that the AIA has just released their full report on building more attractive but still secure US embassies across the world, a project they were commissioned to work on through the State Department. If you have some time this morning, a PDF of the report is available here and it’s a lengthy read, but interesting none the less, covering each portion of embassy building from both the aesthetic sides and the “let’s not let them get blown up” angles as well.